In many ways, 2016 was an important year for driverless vehicles full of historic moments. In that year, major automakers—from Daimler to BMW, Audi, and Hyundai—invested billions of dollars in autonomous vehicle development and worked in partnership with tech players to become leaders in the race for self-driving cars. It was the year driverless and semi-autonomous cars were made available to the public for the first time, at least in trial mode, and the year that sparked a hot debate on the challenges of self-driving mobility and car automation.

Compliance with industry standards is not something you can skip or build in later—it is an integral part of the entire embedded software development process. It has always been crucial, considering that many industries—avionics, automotive, and healthcare, just to name a few—require highly sophisticated, safety- or life-critical embedded systems. In recent years, however, the role compliance tracking and embedded software testing play in the development cycle has greatly evolved, overturning the whole game’s rules. And when the rules of the game change, you have to change with them to win.

Auriga, an expert software R&D and IT outsourcing services provider, was once again recognized for its Programs for Innovation, Customer References, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities by IAOP®. The company enjoyed additional distinction for the excellence it has demonstrated for over a decade.

Traditionally, or say 10 years ago, most organizations were functionally separated, and there was rarely cross-departmental integration between software engineers, test teams, and IT operations specialists. Departments usually had contradicting goals: developers sought new features, operations strived to ensure organizational stability, and testers wanted to minimize risks. However, the changing technology environment necessitates a change in the approach to the whole software development process.

The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) finals took place on May 20–25, 2017 in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. A team of student programmers from the St. Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics (ITMO) once again earned the title of World Champions, setting a new world record with their seventh champion cup.

We are proud to announce that Auriga Baltics, Auriga’s engineering center in Vilnius (Lithuania), was recently acknowledged as being one of the most financially stable companies in the country, receiving the “Strongest in Lithuania” certificate confirming that the company is reliable and very likely to fulfill its financial obligations in a timely manner in the future.

This spring has been filled with events for Auriga. Our experts visited a series of international expo shows and trade fairs in both the U.S. and Europe to catch up with the latest IT trends, share our experience, network with prominent gurus, and discuss the future of the industry. Twice we went to Hannover, Germany to take part in two large and exciting exhibitions—CeBIT 2017 and Hannover Messe.

Over the past decade, health IT has evolved from an administrative mechanism to a clinical tool for improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Such cutting-edge technologies as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, big data, and artificial intelligence have made their way into the healthcare industry, and the rapidly growing scope of information shared has generated the need for accessible, affordable, and widely supported software development tools and technologies.

Embedded software testing has been a crucial component of software development since the first embedded systems and devices appeared. In the past, embedded applications operated in isolation, with no need to communicate with each other. However, today’s embedded devices and systems—from smartphones and fitness trackers to smart cars and sophisticated medical equipment—constantly communicate with each other, share information, and store loads of data. Due to the broad spread of IoT and other cutting-edge technologies, embedded software development and testing has shifted from a straightforward, predictable process to a complicated and challenging task.

Big data is a big deal in today’s world of technology. According to the IDG Enterprise 2016 Data and Analytics Survey, over 70% of businesses agree that big data has the potential to fundamentally change the way they do business and create new revenue opportunities in the next one to three years, while 53% of companies are currently implementing or planning to implement data-driven projects within the next 12 months.

Everyone is talking about Big Data. But what exactly is it and how does it work? Though the term is widely used and accepted, there is still no rigorous definition, which leads to serious misconceptions about what big data actually is.

Technology is one of the industries most affected by outsourcing. In the mature technology markets like the US, Canada or Western Europe, battle for talent is among major trends. As the software development skills shortage intensifies, many tech companies look overseas – not only for lower costs, higher quality, greater flexibility, and better time to market, but also for valid experience and rare and niche skills.

Auriga, a US-based software R&D outsourcing services provider, is pleased to announce the appointment of Yuri Kirkel as Executive Vice President. Mr. Kirkel brings to Auriga over 20 years of successful leadership at both IT services and software product companies.

Auriga, a US-based expert software R&D and IT outsourcing services provider, is proud to announce that the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) has included the company in the 2017 Global Outsourcing 100® list. This marks the tenth consecutive year Auriga has been recognized by IAOP® experts as one of the leading outsourcing vendors globally.

From March 20–24, Auriga will participate in CeBIT 2017, one of the largest B2B events for the digital world, in Hannover, Germany. Approximately 200,000 participants from all over the world will meet at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds to gain insights into current digital transformation trends.

Auriga’s experts look forward to meeting with you at Embedded World 2017, one of the world’s largest trade fairs for embedded technology, from March 14–16 in Nuremberg, Germany. According to the organizers’ estimates, the event will draw over 930 exhibitors, more than 30,000 trade visitors, and approximately 1,700 conference participants from 73 countries.

On February 27 to March 2 2017, Auriga will attend the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry, organized by the GSM Association (GSMA) and held in the Mobile World Capital of Barcelona, Spain. As per tradition, MWC 2017 will include a range of conference sessions, workshops, and interactive discussions as well as an exhibition.

Auriga looks forward to participating in the 2017 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, which will be held on February 19–23 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. This year, the event will feature over 300 education programs, including thought leader sessions, roundtable discussions, and workshops; attract 1,200 exhibitors; and bring together more than 40,000 health IT professionals, clinicians, executives, and vendors from all over the globe.

A new year has already begun, and the time has come to make new plans, set ambitious goals, and rethink priorities for the year ahead. In other words, it is time for us all to choose our direction and decide on our areas of focus. As for Auriga, we plan to deepen our expertise in software development for medical devices and implement the latest digital technologies in our new projects while at the same time staying focused on embedded software development.